End of deal

Islamabad, Nov. 19: President Asif Ali Zardari faces a difficult time with ordinance that granted him immunity in graft cases set to expire on November 28.

Zardari was one of dozens of politicians who benefited from the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) that former President Musharraf promulgated in 2007 as part of a deal with slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

The deal also paved the way for Bhutto to return home from an eight-year self-imposed exile in October 2007. However, she was killed in a gun and suicide attack in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007, clearing the way for Zardari to be nominated for the post of the President by the Pakistan People’s Party.

Analysts warned against limited indemnity for Zardari when the Supreme Court re-opens corruption cases against all who benefitted from the NRO.

“There is a limited indemnity for Zardari because the cases of corruption were registered against him when he was not President,” top lawyer Munir A. Malik told The Telegraph .

Peshawar blast

A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a court building in Peshawar today killing 18 people, officials said, in the latest of a series of attacks on the Pakistan city.